Welcome to Discover Daily by Perplexity , an AI-generated show on tech , science and culture . I'm Alex . Today we're exploring how sleeping pills might be disrupting our brain's natural cleaning process . But first let's look at what else is happening . Our first story comes from the world of artificial intelligence .
Chinese AI company DeepSeek has introduced DeepSeek R1 , an open-source reasoning model that's giving OpenAI's O1 a run for its money . R1 has shown impressive performance across various benchmarks , often matching or even surpassing O1 .
When tested on the 2024 American Invitational Mathematics Examination , or AIME , a challenging high school math competition , deepseek's R1 AI model correctly solved 79.8% of problems on its first attempt , performing slightly better than OpenAI's O1 model , which solved 79.2% of problems correctly . What's particularly interesting about DeepSeek R1 is its estimated cost-effectiveness .
With base rates of just 14 cents per million tokens compared to O1's $7.5 , it's dramatically more economical . R1 generates about 6.2 times more reasoning tokens on average than O1 , making it effectively 4.4 times less expensive for equivalent output .
The model's impressive efficiency comes from its architecture , featuring 671 billion parameters with only 37 billion activated per token . This cost advantage , combined with its open-source nature , makes R1 a highly accessible option for developers and businesses looking for advanced AI reasoning capabilities .
Moving on to our second story , we're seeing an interesting development in the intersection of AI and career success predictions . Ai-driven facial analysis technology is now being used to forecast traits like school rank , job seniority and compensation .
This technology uses machine learning algorithms to extract and analyze features from facial images , enabling predictions about personality traits and potential career success . While this technology may show promise , its use in workforce screening raises significant ethical concerns .
Critics argue that relying on facial features for hiring decisions may perpetuate biases and unfairly disadvantage certain groups . There are also concerns about privacy violations . From a labor market perspective , the widespread adoption of this technology could dramatically alter recruitment processes .
By 2025 , ai is expected to replace 85 million jobs globally , primarily automating routine tasks . However , it's also creating new opportunities in AI-related fields . As this technology evolves , balancing innovation with worker rights and privacy protections will be crucial for maintaining a just and dynamic labour market .
Now let's dive deeper into our main story of the day how sleeping pills might be disrupting our brain's natural cleaning process . A recent study published in Cell has revealed that common sleep medications like Zolpidem , better known as Ambien , may interfere with a crucial brain maintenance function that occurs during sleep .
To understand this , we first need to talk about the glymphatic system . This is essentially the brain's cleaning mechanism , and it's most active during sleep . The glymphatic system facilitates the exchange of cerebrospinal fluid and interstitial fluid through a network of spaces surrounding cerebral blood vessels .
This process helps clear out metabolic waste products and potentially toxic proteins from the brain . A key player in this process is norepinephrine , a neurotransmitter that plays a complex role in sleep regulation . During non-rapid eye movement sleep , or NREM sleep , norepinephrine levels oscillate in a rhythmic pattern .
This triggers what's called slow VASA motion the rhythmic constriction and dilation of blood vessels . This pulsatile action generates a pumping force that drives cerebrospinal fluid through the brain , enhancing the glymphatic system's waste removal efficiency . Now here's where the problem with sleeping pills comes in .
The study found that Zolpidem significantly disrupts this cleaning process . In mice , zolpidem suppressed norepinephrine oscillations by 50% compared to natural sleep . This led to a more than 30% reduction in cerebrospinal fluid transport through the glymphatic system .
This is concerning because , while zolpidem effectively induces sleep , it appears to be interfering with the brain's ability to remove toxic proteins and metabolic waste products . This disruption may have implications for neurological health , potentially increasing the risk of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's .
These discoveries may lead to a shift in how we assess the efficacy and safety of sleep medications . It could potentially influence future drug development and clinical guidelines .
The key takeaway is that , when it comes to sleep , quality matters just as much as quantity , and the medications we use to help us sleep might be doing more harm than good in the long run . That's it for today . Thanks for tuning in . Don't forget to subscribe on your favorite platform For more info on anything we covered today .
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In other Perplexity news , the company has launched Sonar and Sonar Pro APIs enabling developers to integrate real-time AI search capabilities into their applications with unparalleled factual accuracy .
The new offering stands out for its affordability and advanced features , including double the citations of standard search and the ability to customize trusted sources , with companies like Zoom already leveraging the technology to enhance their video conferencing platform already leveraging the technology to enhance their video conferencing platform .
We'll be back with more stories that matter . Until then , stay curious .